On June 20, Manny Ramirez was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. The team has different standards than the often incomprehensible Major League Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It should be noted though that both of Manny's PED suspensions occurred after he had been traded away, so there is that.
Ramirez's stats certainly merit inclusion in the Hall of Fame. He was a monster at the plate. He hit .312/.411/.585 for his CAREER and mashed 555 home runs with 1,831 RBIs. He was an All Star 12 times and won the Silver Slugger nine times. He was the World Series MVP in 2004. With Boston, he hit .312/.411/.588 with 274 home runs and 868 RBIs.
The problem with Ramirez comes down to his PED suspensions. The first one came in 2009 while he was with the Dodgers. The second one was in 2011 when he was with the Rays. The second one was a 100 game suspension and ended his tenure with the Rays and eventually, his career. Ramirez chose to retire rather than appeal the suspension. Later, he decided to attempt to be reinstated, serve his suspension and attempt a comeback. He signed minor league deals with the Athletics, Rangers and Cubs, but never made it back to the Majors. And so, in his seventh year on the Hall of Fame ballot, Ramirez is polling at just over 40%. With Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds not getting elected by the BBWAA, it seems his chances are slim to none to get elected this way.
Ramirez threw out the first pitch at the game and appeared in the booth to talk during the game. Boston won 5-2 over the Tigers with Josh Winckowski getting the win. The offense was led by a three-hit, two-RBI effort by Franchy Cordero.
No comments:
Post a Comment